The Mushroom Murder Trial | Erin Patterson Podcast
The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast delivers on-the-spot coverage of one of Australia’s most prominent criminal trials.
The focus is on Morwell, a town in southeastern Victoria, as the case of the Department of Public Prosecutions versus Erin Trudi Patterson unfolds. The hearings are taking place at the La Trobe Magistrates’ Court, located about 152 kilometres east of Melbourne, the state’s capital.
The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast follows the event as it moves through the Australian legal system, examining the tragic aftermath of a family lunch involving Beef Wellington and mushrooms.
Ms Erin Patterson is pleading not guilty to all charges, which are being run under the direction of The Supreme Court of Victoria. She faces three murder charges and one attempted murder allegation following the deaths after the 29 July 2023 family lunch.
The allegations relate to a meal of Beef Wellington which included toxic death cap mushrooms
The Mushroom Murder Trial Podcast will examine this tragedy as it makes its way through the Australian legal system.
Ms Erin Patterson, aged 50, from Leongatha, was a trainee mathematics teacher before this tragic incident.
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The Mushroom Murder Trial | Erin Patterson Podcast
Phones, Facts, and Factory Resets: Key Moments from Erin Patterson Mushroom Trial
Dive into a bonus transcript reading episode examining the Erin Patterson case with detailed questioning about two phones and their usage patterns which the prosecution said could reveal crucial evidence.
• Focus on "Phone A" and "Phone B" with Dr Nanette Rogers (chief prosecutor) questioning Erin Patterson who pleads not guilty
• Ms Patterson's phone usage timeline examined through meticulous questioning about web searches related to death cap mushrooms
• Prosecution said evidence showed Ms Patterson's phone lost network connection during police search
• Prosecutor's claim that Ms Patterson deliberately concealed her phone from police during investigation
• Phone records showing Ms Patterson's device disconnected precisely during her private consultation with a lawyer
Ms Patterson is pleading not guilty to all four charges and has the resumption of innocence.
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Hello and welcome to the Mushroom Murder Trial podcast. This is a bonus edition of the transcript from yesterday in the Erin Patterson case. Now, what I'll be talking about is phone A and phone B, and there are two people here, so there is Dr Rogers, who's the chief prosecutor, nanette Rogers and, obviously, erin Patterson herself, who is pleading not guilty to all charges. So shall we go? This is Nanette Rogers and this phone is phone A. Is this the phone you'd used since February 23, correct? Yes, that's Erin. Sorry, I just got a quick question. Did you say I used that phone until August 14, or that number until August 14? The number? Okay, thank you, yep. Do you need to ask me the question? Do you need the question asked again? Erin, yes, please, you continued to use that phone number, that is the 783. Yep says Erin, right through until the 14th of August 2023,. Yep, and up until the 2nd of November. In fact, I think it's still connected, and this phone A is the phone you had used since February 2023. Did you just answer that question or did you? No, no, I didn't, but you're right, I did. That was Erin. Yes, this is the phone you used as your primary communication device from February 2023. Yeah, that's right, yep, erin again. And you used it to send and receive texts, phone calls and to take photos Correct, amongst many other things. Erin said yes, I suggest you use the phone to research death cap mushrooms. Agree or disagree? Erin replies disagree. I suggest you also use phone A to look up iNaturalist in 2023. Agree or disagree? Erin replies disagree, and I've already put this to you previously, but I want to make clear that I suggest you saw the post by Tom May on the 21st of May 2023 on this phone. Erin replies disagree. Phone A, says the prosecutor. Erin, disagree. And that's how you saw the post by Christine McKenzie that she posted on the 18th of April 2023. Erin replies I didn't see that post. You didn't see. You didn't use that phone to do that, erin, I didn't see the post. Is that what I have said? You didn't see the post. Phone A was not recovered by police on the 5th of August. Agreed? Erin, agreed. I suggest it's because you deliberately concealed this phone from police. Agree or disagree, disagree. And in fact, I suggest the police never recovered phone A. Agree or disagree. I think that's true, said Erin.
Speaker 1:Your evidence to this jury was that on the 2nd of August 2023, you quote, realised that phone A was just not cutting it anymore. Do you remember giving that evidence, erin? I do so. Is that your explanation about why you factory reset phone B on that day? Um, I think that was the explanation. That's, erin. And just on that, I remember you asking me did I do that factory reset on the 2nd of August? At that time, and I said the date looks about right. I'm not sure about the time, and I remember doing the factory reset. I thought I did it the same day. I put the SIM in it, which was the 3rd of August. In any event, this is a prosecutor. You agree that it was on the 2nd of August that you realised that phone A wasn't cutting it anymore? Erin, yeah, or 3rd of August, I'm not sure which day. I suggest to you that there was nothing wrong with phone A and that this is another lie. Agree or disagree. Disagree. You had purchased this phone brand new in February 2023, correct, erin? Correct, and it was less than six months old. Correct, correct, said, erin.
Speaker 1:Now I want to take you to Exhibit 77, the call charge records, and I want to start at page 55. And please say, if you're unable to see the screen, erin. No, I can see it, thank you. So the date is on the left-hand column. It is replied Erin, and these questions are about the 2nd of August. Yep, so you use phone A on the 2nd of August with the phone number 783 all day. Is this the CCR for 783 and 835? No, said the prosecutor, it's the CCR for phone number ending 783. Thank you, I just couldn't see that anywhere, said Erin. We can, I can take it back, erin, I trust you. Said Erin, we can, I can take it back, erin, I trust you. It's just I couldn't see. So I wanted to clarify. Okay, here's on her, in the fourth column, you can see the number. Oh, thank you. Yeah, said Erin, dr Rogers, so you used phone A with this phone number 783 on the 2nd of August all day, erin? Well, it was on. Yeah, you used it for data phone calls, smss. I can see the data and SMS on this page. This is Erin.
Speaker 1:So that's page 55, yeah, then there's page 56, yep, and it's still on the 2nd of August. Yes, if that can be blown up. Page 57,. This is a prosecutor, erin. Yeah, still on 2 August, erin. Hmm, page 58, still 2nd of August, erin. Correct, page 59, still 2nd of August, yep, and this is a prosecutor. And then at page 60, almost two thirds down the page, the records end for the 2nd of August, until about 11pm or thereabouts.
Speaker 1:Yep, so the records, these records show your use of that phone continued to be frequent until about 11pm that night of the 2nd of August. Erin, um, yeah, there was use. Yeah, and this is the day, or this is a possible day on your evidence, that you realised phone A was not cutting it anymore. You said just a minute ago it was either the 2nd or 3rd of August, erin, right, can I take you now to the 3rd of August, which is down the bottom of page 60?
Speaker 1:Erin, yep, we see from page 60 there that you continue to use phone A with the phone number 783. Erin, yeah, it's on anyway. Yep, sorry, I said well, it shows the phone was on. That's from the prosecutor. Well, there's a column called yes, that's true, you used it for data phone calls and SMSs. I'm happy to take you over the page through to 61. Yep, says Erin. I can see SMSs 62, yep, erin, 63, yep, 64, yep and 65, yep. So those records now this is the prosecutor for 3rd of August continue from page 60 to 65. I think we've been over that. Erin replies they do, and the records show frequent use of phone A throughout that day of 3 August. Do you accept that it definitely shows use? Yes, now I want to go to the 4th of August, which starts down the bottom of page 65. Erin, yep, we can see you continue to use phone A with the phone number 783. Erin, I did Data phone calls, smss. Erin, yeah, happy to take you through from 66, 67, yep and 68, yep. And you accept that the records show frequent use of phone A throughout the day? It does show use. Yes, I want to go to the 5th of august.
Speaker 1:And the 5th of august was the day of the search warrant. It was, and we heard evidence that police arrived at your house at 11.40am. Yeah, yes, erin said Up until 11.40am. And this time I'm on page 68 of the exhibit you were using phone A. Um, this is Erin. I can't see any actual like SMSs or phone calls by me. But yes, some people did send me SMSs Data. Well, erin replies um, that doesn't mean I'm doing anything on the phone.
Speaker 1:Dr Sorrell did say that. Beg your pardon, says the prosecutor. I just said because there's data entries. It doesn't mean I'm using the phone. And did you refer to someone's evidence? Yeah, I said. Didn't Dr Sorrell say that? Prosecutor? Yes, but I'm not asking you about Dr Sorrell's evidence. I'm asking you. Sorry, I'm asking about you. Did you use data on the 5th of August up until 11.40am? Erin? I have no idea. I doubt it.
Speaker 1:Prosecutor, suddenly, at an unknown time, between 12.01pm on 5th of August and 1.45pm, your mobile service number, ending in 783, which was inside phone A, lost connection with the network. That's been the evidence in this matter. You agree with that? I do, erin, and it's an agreed fact in this case, exhibit 84, paragraph 5, and I'm happy to bring that up for you. Erin, there's no need that. This lost connection this is the prosecutor could be due to A the SIM card being removed from the handset. B the battery being removed without turning the handset off or. C the handset being damaged in such a way that it would disrupt power of the handset or disrupt the handset's connection to the network. Yes, so that's the agreed fact between the parties, says the prosecutor.
Speaker 1:Erin, yes, I suggest that you remove the SIM from phone A between 12.01 and 1.45pm on the 5th of August, agree or disagree, erin, disagree. I suggest you had physical possession of this phone when you did that. Agree or disagree, disagree. I suggest you removed SIM from phone A when you were afforded privacy to speak with a lawyer while police were at your home. Agree or disagree, disagree. That happened at 2pm, said Erin. I suggest that your claim that the black item on the window sill in the lounge room is phone A is simply nonsense. Agree or disagree, erin, disagree.
Speaker 1:So that's what we've got today. I'll be reading this through to you. At the moment, the judge is giving instructions to lawyers, so we haven't had any more news today, so I'll keep these sort of bubbling through. So you have them. So thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Make sure you sign up for my newsletter, and that is at mushroommurdertrialcom, and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to listen and I will get back to you very soon and let me know what you think through the website or, however, through socials, because all my socials are there as well, as you can donate me a coffee, which is $5. That's there as well. Buy me a coffee. I'd love that. Thank you, and thank you to everyone who has done that. It is really needed when you've on what, the seventh week of a trial. It's been a lot, hasn't it? But thank you so much and I will speak to you very, very soon. Bye.
